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Molly Ivins, 1944-2007

"So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was."

Please help

Off-line business affects online business – I remember being so
naïve as to believe I/we could affect online business for the
better. Nope. Best we can do is display the seal of a company
that promotes integrity – thereby standing up for what's right
and honest. Sad.

I have just a few facts to present for your consideration ...

Apple earns about $600,000 per year per employee. It can well
afford to share a little more of that with its workers – on all
continents.

It is now the richest company in the world, sitting on a pile of
nearly a hundred billion dollars in cash. This is expected to
double in 2012.

The top eight companies that spent the most on lobbying over the
past few years are Exxon Mobil, Verizon Communications, General
Electric, AT&T, Altria, Amgen, Northrop Grumman and Boeing.

Exxon Mobil spent the most, some $138 million over the last 10
years. Their corporate income tax liabilities for 2009? Zero!
Not only did they pay nothing, but they also received a tax
rebate the same year of $156 million.

AT&T recorded the largest tax reduction, with its tax rate
falling from 34.0 percent to negative 6.4 percent from 2007 to
2010, or an estimated reduction of more than $7.3 billion.

Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris, had the smallest
decline from 2007 to 2010, with its rate declining from 28.9
percent to 27.4 percent.

Six of the top eight companies saw declines of at least 7
percentage points! And, you wonder why this country is broke?

Last year there were 7,000 millionaires who didn't pay a single
penny in federal income taxes.

In 2011, individuals represented 73 percent of total giving to
help those less fortunate:

* Foundation support was up, but represents only 14 percent of
the total
* Bequests were 8 percent of giving
* Corporate giving (corporations and corporate foundations) was
just 5 percent of the total (Remember, these are the people
not even paying taxes)

The USA spends more than twice the amount on health care as other
developed nations, yet we rank 49th in life expectancy worldwide!

Pregnant women are told not to drink alcohol or smoke. Yet, now
it has been decided by the pharmaceutical companies that it's
okay to take chemotherapy during pregnancy. These poisons will
kill the cancer (and often the patient) but not hurt the baby.

“July 9, 2012 might be "Internet doomsday" for PC and Mac users
who haven't taken steps to make sure their systems are not
infected with what's being called DNSChanger malware.

That's right: Your Internet connection may not work that day
because the safety net now in place from the FBI against the
malware will be removed then, and if your computer is infected,
you won't be able to get to the Internet.”